Uping the Ante'

[Tonepub]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

Nice try Jeff, no talking me out of this one!

The IO is a great phono preamp. It does, however, require more care and feeding than just about anything else out there.

I couldn't make practical use of mine because I have my system on 12-18 hours a day and the tube issues were prohibitive as a reviewing tool. If I listened to vinyl a few hours a week, I could live happily ever after with one. It's got a big, weighty sound that I really enjoyed, and possibly the deepest soundstage I've ever heard. That being said the ARC REF comes really close with only 6 tubes. That's why I went that direction.

When you get to the 10 -20k phono stages, there aren't really any dogs. Different flavors and you can optimize either of them by using a different table or cartridge to get the sound you want.

Seriously, get Kevin Deal to hook you up with some really good tubes, and get a spare set or two, so that when you burn one up on a weird moment, you'll have matched spares to keep the fun rolling.

I've owned the IO and the Rhea and getting high quality, low noise, matched tubes is really the key to maximum enjoyment out of either model.

Also, the IO really takes two full hours to sound it's best.

It's a fantastic preamp, but it's not jump in the car and go. It's more like a vintage Ferrari than a modern one. This is a high maintenance girlfriend. Keep that at the back of your head and it will be fine.

Or you may just throw your arms up and buy a Burmester 100 or the Boulder 1008. Damn close in sound and no tubes to fuss with!

Here's to hoping it treats you right....

[turntable]

Master - have you hear it yet?

what cartridge are you using with it?

I am sure the new IO's are a lot better, however when I had one in my system, I was very happy with the sound, not so happy with the tube noise. I do play LOUD thou.

You being used to the absolute quietness of CD, might be in for a surprise if you are running a LOMC of around .4mv or less.

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by turntable

Master - have you hear it yet?

what cartridge are you using with it?

I am sure the new IO's are a lot better, however when I had one in my system, I was very happy with the sound, not so happy with the tube noise. I do play LOUD thou.

You being used to the absolute quietness of CD, might be in for a surprise if you are running a LOMC of around .4mv or less.

It will be setup in a 3-4 more weeks. I have the Da Vinci' cartridge.

[turntable]

Is that the Clearaudio Da Vinci' (.8mv) or the Da Vinci' cartridge (.17 mv).

I am guessing the Clearaudio, noise should not be any problem with that.

[Tonepub]

Get the coolio tubes from Kevin and it will be quiet, even with the Koetsu (.23mv) output....

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by turntable

Is that the Clearaudio Da Vinci' (.8mv) or the Da Vinci' cartridge (.17 mv).

I am guessing the Clearaudio, noise should not be any problem with that.

It is the Clearaudio Da Vinci'

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by tonepub

Get the coolio tubes from Kevin and it will be quiet, even with the Koetsu (.23mv) output....

Michael at AnalogTubes is my only Tube supplier as he is also a Sponsor here on AA